Love Songs

What Others are
Saying about Love Songs:

“I enjoyed this
short story very much. It is sweet and romantic… Even though this
story is short the author took the time to make every bit of the
plot have weight and value. The attention to detail, like the way
Madison ices the cupcakes, makes this story stand out… Love Songs
sings, and M.G. Braden has done a fine job with this!”

Carly~Reviewer
for Fallen Angel Reviews

“
Love Songs is a sweet short story about a second chance to
land a childhood crush. The story was good and the writing was
clean…”

Ariana
Blaine~Reviewer for The Romance Studio

“
This is another fine work by Braden that will leave you
feeling satisfied. Love songs is a sweet, contemporary short story
that will enchant and delight its readers from start to
finish.”

Lily~Reviewer
for The Long and Short of it

LOVE SONGS

****

PUBLISHED
BY:

M.G.
Braden

Love Songs -
Smashwords Edition

Copyright ©
2010 by M.G. Braden

Cover Art:
Jax
Cassidy

Discover other titles by MG Braden at Smashwords.com:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mgbraden

All rights
reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or
introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or
by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the
copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work
of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents
are either the product of the author's imagination or are used
fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and
trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of
fiction, which have been used without permission. The
publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated
with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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Dedication:

Steve - “How do I
Live…”

“Love is in the air…”

Madison Hughes quickly tuned the
radio to a new station.
Love songs suck.

“And I will always love you…”

Why are all the stations
playing this hokey crap?
She switched it again.

“All by myself. Don’t wanna live…”

Much better.
Although…living on
her own wasn't so bad. She could do whatever she wanted, whenever
she wanted.

She sang along as she mixed up the cupcakes
she had promised to bake for her niece. Kayla needed them for her
preschool’s Valentine’s Day party. It was the least Madison could
do since her brother had taken on the role of single parent. Jake
couldn’t bake worth a darn and was only slightly better at cooking
meals, but he really was the best father to Kayla.

She popped the cupcakes in the
oven and set the timer. Here she was feeling sorry for herself when
Jake would be spending his first Valentine’s without his wife,
Maria. Some sister she was. While she had all her baking stuff out,
she decided to make his
favourite
cake. She would take it over to him when she
dropped Kayla off
.

Ever since Maria had passed away, just under
a year ago, she had been helping Jake out with Kayla, who was only
four. Madison picked her up after preschool and took care of her
until Jake got home from work. As a baker she worked very early
mornings, which enabled her to take care of Kayla in the
afternoon.

Kayla knew that Madison made the best
cupcakes in all of Maple Meadows. Not that Maple Meadows was so
big, but still, it was good to be known as the Cupcake Queen. Her
business was called Cupcake Castle and, according to her niece,
that apparently made her queen. Soon the moniker became her
trademark around town. Still, as happy as she was being the queen
of cupcakes, it would be nice to have a king. Making Valentine
treats for the entire town was rather depressing when you were
single.

The timer on the oven rang. She
pulled the cupcakes out and put the cake for her brother into the
heated oven in their place. After the cupcakes cooled, she poured
chocolate
ganache
over them and started to decorate each one. They had to be
identical, or there would be arguments among the preschoolers.
Unable to resist, she took a bite of one of the
cupcakes.

Mmm, chocolate.
Who needs a man
when you have chocolate treats this good?

***

Madison had just settled Kayla
in front of her
favourite
princess video when she heard the door open. Looking at her
watch, she thought it odd that Jake was home early. It was only
three o’clock. She heard his voice, and then another male
voice.
I
know that voice.
Her heart started to beat faster, playing staccato against
her rib cage.
It can’t be.

She went down the hall into the
kitchen.
Yep.
There he was in all his glory. Cameron Trent. The all-star
from high school. He was not only the hottest guy in school, but
also the nicest. Everyone liked him. How could you not? He was six
feet tall with chocolate brown hair and eyes to match. The biggest
grin she had ever seen and a dimple as deep as the Grand Canyon.
And he was nice to everyone he met. Even to her. His best friend’s
little sister.

She was four years younger than
Jake and had adored him. From a small child she'd followed him and
his friends around. He had been her hero. She’d been a chubby
child, and he had always stood up for her when other kids picked on
her. One time, when Jake wasn’t around, Cameron had taken on some
boys who were teasing her and being rude. She was so
embarrassed
she could hardly
thank him. Ever since then, she had disappeared every time he was
around.

“Here she is. Our cupcake queen.” Jake
smiled. He went to the fridge and grabbed a couple of beers.

Madison blushed. “Don’t call me that.”

“Aww, c’mon. I think it must be cool to rule
over cupcakes,” drawled Cam. He really did drawl too. It was this
lazy, sexy sound that made her want to talk to him forever.

“Hey, Sis. You remember Cam.” He handed Cam
one of the bottles, then straddled a kitchen chair backwards.

How could anyone forget?
“I think so. You
used to go to our high school, didn’t you?”
Ha, that ought to show him. He
probably thinks the world revolves around him.
She knew she wasn’t exactly
being fair to him because he really had always been a good guy.
Still, maybe ten years out of high school with real women hitting
on him had made him arrogant. It could happen.

She saw Jake arch an eyebrow at
her. Her brother knew that she was just pretending not to remember
Cam, because he had forever been answering her questions about him
in high school. She just hoped he didn’t give her away.
Uh-huh, big
brother. You owe me.
She shook her head.

“Yeah. I went to your high school. I think
we met a few times.” When he smiled she thought he looked rather
like the Cheshire Cat, but his voice gave nothing away. She wasn’t
sure whether he was being sarcastic or not.

She cocked her head sideways and
tried to x-ray him with her eyes. And why not, he was
gorgeous
.
Who
would it hurt if she
looked a little more?
“Oh, of course. I’m so sorry. It’s been such a
long time. What are you up to now?” Madison knew she wasn’t fooling
anyone with her little game, but still it made her feel in control,
and that’s the way she liked things.

“I’ve come home to take care of my dad’s
estate and take over the business. At least for a little
while.”

She noticed that he hadn’t sat
down until she did. Still the gentleman.
Damn, couldn’t he
at least
be mean?
Then, just as quickly as the
next thought.
What did he just say? Oh, man. I am so lame.

“Oh, Cam. I’m so sorry. I did read about his
passing. I didn’t mean to be insensitive.” She was ashamed of
herself for playing little head games when the poor guy had just
lost his father. All to make her feel like she had the upper
hand.

“It’s okay. We hadn’t been close the last
few years because he didn’t like my career choice. This came as a
complete shock. I just wish we’d been able to talk before...” Cam
closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Anyway, I hear
you are doing really well these days. Good for you. I may have to
get pointers on running a business. I don’t have a clue.” He
brought the bottle to his lips and tipped the beer back.

Madison almost groaned. That had
to be the sexiest thing ever.
Get a grip, girl. It’s not like you haven’t seen a
man drink beer before. What are you, a horny teenager?

At twenty-four she was definitely no longer
a teenager, but with running her own business and the weird hours
she kept, it was hard to have dates, let alone hot dates. Most guys
wanted to stay up past nine p.m. and that’s when she needed to be
in bed at least six nights a week. She got up at four in the
morning to start baking for deliveries and service that started at
seven.

“Sure. If I can help out, I’d be glad
to.”

“Daddy!” Kayla ran into the room and
launched herself at Jake, who pulled her up into his lap. She
smiled shyly at Cam. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Cam said. “Who might you be?”

“I’m Princess Kayla.” She answered in her
most regal voice.

“Oh, I see. I guess you really must be a
princess if you have a queen for an auntie.”

He’s even good with kids.
Be still my heart.

***

Cam had been hanging out at Jake’s house all
afternoon. He should have gone home hours ago, but he was having a
good time relaxing, watching the verbal sparring between siblings
and playing with Kayla. When Jake invited him to stay for dinner,
he jumped at the chance. He wasn’t often home at night, and it was
nice to just hang out.

If truth be told, he was
intrigued by Madison. She had really grown up.
Wow.
The shy little girl he remembered as
having a bit of baby fat had grown into a gorgeous, curvy woman who
was hot. Not to mention quite sassy. He didn’t think she had ever
said more than two words in a row to him when they were
younger.

Throughout dinner he had learned a lot of
things about the Hughes family and what they’d been up to over the
years. He also found out that Madison helped out a lot with Kayla,
but that normally dinnertime was just Kayla and daddy. He was
hoping she stayed tonight because of him. He’d certainly stayed
because of her.